Saturday, January 27, 2007

This is 70s radio as I remember it, not just the hits, everything, even whole albums. In the last hour we've heard:

David Bowie (Boys Keep Swinging)ELO (Mr. Blue Sky)Deep Purple (Maybe I'm a Leo),Richard ThompsonKansasRoxy Music (Mother of Pearl - listen to commercial radio and you'd think the only thing they wrote was Love is the Drug)Patti Smith (Easter - Radiohead, I hope you're listening)

This is as close to what Theresa listened to as I remember (and probably Sharon Prior too)

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Let the facts stand

Last week, I was asked to alter the following post. If you go back you will see I took out the paragraphs in red.I did so out of hope that being sensitive to some unknown persons wishes, I might somehow aid in having information come forward that would solve Theresa's case.

I no longer feel that way. If I touched a nerve somewhere referring to the Champlain college's disassociation with their employee, Stewart Peacock so be it. But I am not going to alter facts on the promise that others may provide useful information.

The facts are plain, and I've laid them out before. Champlain college obstructed the proceedings in a criminal investigation. As this offense only recently came to light they are still eligible to be prosecuted to the fullest extend of the law.

When Pierre Hugues Boisvenu - the most influential victims rights advocate in Quebec - returns from vacation, I will ask him to contact his lawyers and discuss why the police up to this point have not pursued this offense (they have been asked to do so repeatedly). It may be that in addition to Champlain college, the Surete du Quebec has now engaged in criminal negligence:January 1979

The investigation into Theresa AlloreÂs disappearance was entering its third month at the beginning of January 1979, and hope was beginning to dwindle that she would ever be found alive. As the focus began to shift from a missing person and possible runaway to that of a potential homicide, the case caught the interest of more powerful forces in law enforcement. Technically, the case was still under the authority of Chief Leo Hamel of Lennoxville, but that could change depending on if, and where the girl was found. Even Hamel knew that a homicide was beyond his capabilities. In the early weeks of January 1979 the Quebec Provincial Force began to take notice of the case.

The Provincial police were known by many names. The Quebec Provincial Force (QPF), Bureau des Enquete Criminal (BEC), sometimes the Surete du Quebec. In the Townships they were known as the Coaticook detachment. In 1979 Roch Gaudreault was coming up as a detective in the Coaticook criminal detachment. Gaudreault had earned his reputation more from his swagger than his accomplishments. He looked like a great detective, he dressed like Kojak, so everyone just assumed that he was a great detective. Slowly, Gaudreault began to insinuate himself into Leo HamelÂs investigation. Gaudreault knew that it was only a matter of time before a body turned up. In January of 1979, Gaudreault - never known for his sensitivity - called up Mr. Allore and bluntly informed him that all there was left to do was to sit around and wait for the snow to melt so that the corpse could be discovered. Insensitive, but accurate. Gaudreault was right. The body would turn up. The question was where? If she were found in Montreal, the case would come under the authority of the Montreal Urban Police, if she were found in Sherbrooke then their force would handle it, but if she were found in the Compton regionÂ While everyone else was turning their attentions to Montreal, Gaudreault stayed to the sidelines and waited patiently for the snow to melt.

At the beginning of the second semester of school for the 1978-79 academic year, Champlain College initiates a change that is curious and noteworthy. While all the attention of the investigation is focused in Montreal, Champlain College quietly accepts the resignation of Stewart Peacock, Residence Director of KingÂs Hall. Peacock has been on staff for barely three months. He decides to take Âa leave of absenceÂ and move across the country to Vancouver. The man in charge of the facility where a student went missing quietly slips away and is never heard from again. He never gives a statement. He is never questioned. He is never interviewed. In fact, for the Allores, Chief Hamel, Robert Buellac, and Detective Gaudreault, it is as if he never existed.

After Peacock departs, Champlain completely vacates KingÂs Hall Â the building where he had been living Â and moves all the students living in Compton to Gillard house. Gillard house, under the authority of Jean Eddisford, becomes the main facility at Compton, and KingÂs Hall Â for reasons only known to Champlain Â is left empty.

Meanwhile, in Montreal the investigation is hitting a dead end. Buellac clocks close to 50 hours making inquires, conducting interviews, and running down leads connected with Theresa AlloreÂs activities in Montreal prior to attending Champlain College. Buellac does surveillance work. He runs license plate checks on cars belonging to TheresaÂs friends. He does criminal record checks on suspicious characters. None of his efforts lead anywhere. Leo Hamel joins the investigation in Montreal. He makes several trips to assist Buellac in his efforts. They check when Theresa last filled her birth control prescription. Perhaps there was a pregnancy? They discover that out west, her boyfriend, Vlad Kulish has suddenly vanished. A friend states that he took a trip down to the States. Perhaps a rendezvous with Theresa, now that the babyÂs born? Hamel now reports to the French press that the possibility of a flight to the States is gaining momentum. Some students have come forward and say that Theresa was a manic-depressive. They suggest Theresa was failing in her studies and intended to quit school and leave the country altogether.

Robert Allore was slowing beginning to see that none of this made any sense. In mid January he requests that TheresaÂs belongings be returned back home to New Brunswick. Costs were mounting, and Champlain College was continuing to bill him for the room once occupied by his daughter; a room that has remained vacant for the past ten weeks.

THE PICKTON TRIAL DAY 2: Relaxed, laughing, slumped in a chair, B.C. farmer patiently answered police interviewer's questionsROBERT MATAS and JANE ARMSTRONG AND PETTI FONGNEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. -- Robert Pickton appeared as if he had few worries in the world as police interrogated him after his arrest in 2002 on charges of first-degree murder in the deaths of two Vancouver prostitutes.Slumped in a chair shoved into the corner of a tiny police interview room at the RCMP police station in Surrey, Mr. Pickton responds to questions politely and with patience, speaking slowly in a soft mumble and sounding relaxed."I'm just a pig man; that's all I got to say," Mr. Pickton tells RCMP officer Bill Fordy of the Missing Women Task Force. He laughs and shakes his head as he is told that police, in addition to the murder charges against him, are also investigating the disappearance of about 50 women."Wow," he says, dismissing accusations against him as "hogwash." He cannot say much, because he doesn't know anything. "It could be a set-up," he suggests. "There is nothing to say. I don't know anything."

He says he's just a plain working guy. "That's all I am and now I got all those charges," casting his eyes downward to the floor. "It's a little far-fetched, isn't it?"The conversation appears in the first portion of a videotape of police interrogating Mr. Pickton after he was charged. The tape was shown yesterday, on the second day of the first-degree murder trial.Throughout the opening hours of the interview, Mr. Pickton responds to police questions without hostility or aggression.He appears comfortable with long silences. He shows no emotion.During the early stages of the interview, Mr. Pickton comes across as what he says he is: a farmer with limited education. He speaks mostly in broken phrases and bad grammar. But he appears to enjoy telling the police officer stories from his life.Mr. Pickton wears dirty-looking street clothes, slacks, a T-shirt and a hoodie sweatshirt. Two sad-looking plants are tucked next to his chair in the interview room. Staff-Sergeant Bill Fordy, who was a sergeant at that time, sits a few metres away, at the edge of a small table.For most of the time, Mr. Pickton sits with his hands resting on his chest, his legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles. He yawns repeatedly throughout the early hours of the interview, as if he can barely stay awake.Mr. Pickton had been charged earlier that day -- Feb. 23, 2002 -- with the murder of two missing prostitutes from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Police at that point had not found any human remains on Mr. Pickton's property.Over the next months, the police would find evidence leading to charges of murdering 26 more women. But on this Saturday morning, police know only about evidence related to the murder of two missing women, Sereena Abotsway and Mona Wilson.Almost three hours after the interview begins, Inspector Fordy plunks a poster in front of Mr. Pickton. It shows the faces of 48 women who have vanished from Vancouver's streets. "Have any of these women been to your place?" Inspector Fordy asks.Mr. Pickton replies that he can't keep track of all the women who come and go from his house. He tells his interrogator that he's good with numbers but bad with faces."I do not remember faces," he says. "Which ones am I supposed to [be] charged for, for murder, if you don't mind me asking?" The officer says he doesn't mind at all and points to one of the women. Mr. Pickton asks: "That one? Who the hell is she?"He is told other witnesses say some of the women were at his place. "No way," says Mr. Pickton. "I don't know any of these women.""Have you even had sex with any of those girls?" the police officer continues. "Not that I'm aware of," Mr. Pickton says.The officer then points to each face on the poster, one by one, and asks Mr. Pickton if he knows any, or brought them to his house.Mr. Pickton says "No" to each woman. From time to time, he remarks on how pretty some of them are.Inspector Fordy turns the subject to sex with prostitutes and asks about Mr. Pickton's first experience with "a working girl."Mr. Pickton says it was with a woman who stabbed him in 1997.Earlier, the police officer describes the extensive police investigation that had been launched on the Pickton farm. Mr. Pickton asks what they are looking for. He is told they are looking for any evidence clarifying his involvement. As Inspector Fordy continues to talk about the investigation, Mr. Pickton yawns and asks, "What's that got to do with me?"He recounts stories about his life as if he were sitting with friends over coffee.When asked about the worst thing that ever happened to him, he talks about a stabbing incident in 1997, even though he had just been charged with two murders. Later, he says the worst thing to happen to him was when he was mauled by two wild boars.***The following is a partial transcript from a videotaped Feb. 23, 2002, interview between RCMP Sergeant Bill Fordy and Robert William Pickton. A portion of the 11-hour tape was played to the jury in Mr. Pickton's trial yesterday. Sgt. Fordy talks about Mr. Pickton's arrest.Fordy: Yeah okay. In addition to those two murders ah, Rob, the police are also investigating obviously the disappearance of, you know, approximately 50 ah, workers?Pickton: (Laughing)Fordy: . . . inPickton: Oh well.Fordy: . . . from the Downtown Eastside. Okay now, I see you're laughing there. Let me clarify something, okay?Pickton: Okay.Fordy: You haven't been charged with those 50 murders.Pickton: (Laughing) I think, I don't think so.Fordy: All right.Fordy: All right and that you're being investigated for ah, upwards of 50 other disappearances and/or murders. Right?Pickton: Um, hum.Fordy: Okay in your own words Rob, can you explain to me what that means to you?Pickton: What that means, what, what it means to me?Fordy: YeahPickton: Hogwash.Fordy: Pardon?Pickton: Hogwash.Fordy: Hogwash. Okay. Tell me more.Pickton: That's all I can really say, I can't tell you much, like I don't know nothing about this. It could be set up.Fordy: Okay. Let me ask you something, Rob. Why do you think I'm here to talk to you this morning?Pickton: Well, you just said that you want to ask me a few questions. 'Cause you want to get, you want to see but I, I don't know what to say. I don't . . . I'm . . . I'm mind baffling and I'm just a working guy. Just a plain working guy, that's all I am.Later in the transcript, regarding a stabbing:Pickton: It's all black and white. I'm a bad dude, it's the name of the game I guess.Fordy: um, hum.Pickton: And they nail you to the cross if you can. I mean, when you pay, when you . . . push against the wall as far as you can go. Until the wall moves back, you move back with the wall.Fordy: Interesting.Later in the transcript:Pickton: Life goes around and around.Fordy: Yeah. Now you said to me the worst thing that ever happened to you was getting stabbed.Pickton: Yeah. That wasn't the worse thing.Fordy: What was the worse thing?Pickton: Tore apart by pigs.Fordy: Tell me about that.Tape ends.

In his report to the Board of Governors on January 25th 1979, Bill Matson is pleased to note that the construction on the new Champlain College residence facility that will house 315 students is well underway. Progress reports are being analyzed, and it appears the buildings will be ready for occupancy by July of 1979. At the same meeting Matson is asked by a faculty member from St Lambert why almost 20% of Champlain-Lennoxville students were on academic probation, or Article 30. Matson assures the member that he will get back to him with a response by the next meeting in February. But Matson misses the February meeting. He ruptures his spleen and is placed in a hospital.

If Matson didn’t know the answer to the member from St Lambert’s question, students did. Compton had such a spontaneous party atmosphere that it made it impossible for anyone to study. As one student put it, “Perhaps this is why the failure rate at Compton is substantially higher than on-campus students or those living off campus”.

On February 12th Champlain finally decides to address the Compton situation. A raid is called for and officers from the QPF’s Alcohol and Morality department arrest three students living in Gillard house. No one knows exactly what charges are laid against the students, but Director of Student Services, Gerald Cutting states that the School is, “trying to provide workshops whereby students learn to drink in moderation”.

Clearly Champlain just didn’t get it. The raid was mostly a symbolic gesture, timed to garner the College some good publicity. It was too little too late. As the case of the missing girl dragged on, some began to question Champlain’s accountability in the affair, and College officials wished they could just make the whole Compton situation go away.

February dragged into March. March slowly crept into April. Investigators watched and waited. Drip-drip-drip went the melting snow. And Champlain College eagerly awaited the completion of their new residence.

This seminar will provide an introduction to the major criminological theories. We willtrace the origins of criminological theories during the twentieth century, examining theunderlying assumptions of each theory, its major contributions to criminology,important empirical findings generated by research on the theory, and debates aboutthe theory. We also will evaluate some recent theoretical developments in criminology,focusing on the extent to which they move us beyond the traditional perspectives.Throughout, we will be especially concerned with the following issues: 1) the evolutionof central concepts in criminology over time; 2) the unique contributions of each theoryto our understanding of crime; 3) the relationships among theoretical concepts; and 4)the operationalization of theoretical concepts in empirical research and the assessmentof research findings.

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

January 23, 1979

“Townships Crime worst in Quebec”. So read the headline on the cover of the Sherbrooke Record on January 23rd, 1979. Statistics released by the Quebec Police Commission showed that the Eastern Townships had the highest rate of crime of any region in Quebec in 1978 - higher even than the provincial average. The report noted that crimes against persons had “skyrocketed” in the region. The eleven Township municipalities having their own police forces collectively logged 377 crimes in the nature of homicides, rapes, sex crimes, armed robberies and other assaults in the year 1978. This was a 9% increase from the 345 crimes against persons reported in 1977. For those Township municipalities that did not have their own police forces - towns patrolled by the Quebec Police Forces (QPF) - the figures were even worse. The QPF showed a rise in violent crimes against persons from 87 in 1977 to 142 in 1978, a staggering increase of 63%. Raynald Gendron, the director of the police commission’s research and statistics division stated matter-of-factly that there was no accounting for the increase in crime.

Gendron may have been stymied, but the problem was due in part by the wave of consolidation that was merging smaller police forces under the umbrella of the Quebec Police Forces. In 1978, larger municipalities such as Sherbrooke and Magog were able to keep their forces in tact. While other towns such as Lennoxville and Brome were teetering on the brink of being swallowed up by the Provincial force. Still others such as Compton, Ayer’s Cliff and North Hatley had already succumbed to consolidation and lost their forces altogether. With consolidation came confusion. The QPF’s jurisdiction and responsibilities were growing at an accelerated pace. They were unfamiliar with the new territory and struggled to keep up adequate levels of service. The QPF force known as the Coaticook division (pronounced, “Quaticook”) had just eighteen men to cover over 2500 square miles, from Lake Memphremagog in the east to the New Hampshire border in the west, from the outskirts of Sherbrooke all the way South to the town of Stanstead on the Vermont border. The changes were confusing to both the police and public. For example, a short, two mile drive on route 143 – the main drag through Lennoxville -would take you through no less than three police jurisdictions – those of the Sherbrooke Municipal Police, the Coaticook division of the QPF, and the town police force of Lennoxville.

Not all of the problems could be attributed to consolidation. The Eastern Townships were a violent place. Reports of drug killings, bodies turning up in local rivers anchored to wheel rims and cement blocks, strangled go-go dancers, repeated stabbings of wives in domestic disputes; these were all common fair for L’Estrie, as the Townships were known in French. The regional chapter of the Hell’s Angeles was located in downtown Sherbrooke – right next door to a convent. Cowansville - located forty miles away from Lennoxville - had the area’s largest maximum-security prison. There were always reports of some inmate escaping only to wreak havoc across the Townships countryside. Lennoxville itself had an overabundance of rapes and sexual assaults – everything ranging from men exposing themselves, to peepers, to abductions and forced confinement charges. Violent crimes were widely reported in the French press but virtually ignored in the English papers. The English speaking establishment worked hard to promote an image of gentrification. Crime was unseemly. Reports of crime could hurt the region’s tourist industry and bring down property values.

In the closing remarks of his report on crime in the region, Director Gendron stated that the Province was not about to investigate why the Townships had become so “notorious” for crime. Finding out why, he stated, would require a “major sociological study.” Gendron conluded that in theory such a study should be undertaken, but in reality there were “too many variables to consider” to make the effort worthwhile.

"The near-simultaneous collapse of the mobile communications network further complicated the situation as senior officers who arrived on the scene found their phones didn't work.

"They're going to have to look into another way of communication, maybe by looking at satellite phones," (retired LT -Det. Stephen Roberts)"WAIT A MINUTE...

Shouldn't Quebec police have this down by now? With the FLQ crisis and the 1976 Olympics under their belt haven't local law enforcement had over 20 years to prepare and prevent such things?

If you're as flummoxed as I about all of this it is interesting to note a recently declassified U.S. Department of State document describing the safeguards in place for the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympic Games.

Document CK3100537984

Remember that the Montreal Olympics were coming in the wake of the tragedy that occurred in Munich at the 1972 games. The document references a Security Coordination Center that was set up in Montreal and included representatives of participating agencies involved in these security arrangements:

"At the operational level, a committee existed called the Comite Principal de Securite de Police pour les Jeux Olympiques which included representatives of {the Montreal Urban Community Police Department (MUCPD), Canadian Armed Forces, Quebec Provincial Police, Federal Minister of Transport, Solicitor-General of Quebec, Solicitor-General of Canada (including RCMP), Ontario Provincial Police, Montreal Fire Department, Emergency Measures Organization, National Harbours Board, Toronto City Police, and other agencies at need.... The Comite was wracked by jurisdictional disputes and, as the Department's observer notes, perhaps it is well that it was never seriously tested."Plus ca change. Once again friends, it's time to duck and cover.

Before we get swept away in the frenzy of the Robert Pickton trial, it is useful to observe the lead-up to the last Canadian trial-of-the-century over ten years ago:

April 1995

Self-proclaimed "Joan of Arc of Pornography", American Porn Feminist, Catharine MacKinnon saw the Bernardo trial as her opportunity to muscle in on Canadian legal affairs. The one-time Osgoode law professor became a mouthpiece for both sides of the case and wore out her welcome in T.O.. While the world waited and watched, papers like the Ottawa Citizen speculated on what it all meant:

"MacKinnon, known to brook no argument, is engaged to psychoanalyst Jeffrey Masson, who once claimed he had slept with nearly 1,000 women.Asked to explain her unusual choice of partners, MacKinnon, who has said equal relations between men and women are impossible in an unequal society, told New York Magazine: "We do our best. He's not not a man, and I'm not not a woman."As for Masson, best known for his $ 7-million failed libel suit against New Yorker writer Janet Malcolm, he's obviously gone ga ga."She will sit for 16 hours and not eat or drink unless I say, 'Kitty you've got to drink.'"She just sits and thinks deep thoughts. She is the greatest mind at work in the world today. Hearing her lecture often makes me cry. I am immensely privileged to be living with her. It is like living with God."

To everyone involved in the Paul Bernardo case, they are "the Families", with a capital F - the parents and siblings of slain schoolgirls Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy.

But where traditionally, victims of violent crime and/or their survivors are relegated to the sidelines of the justice system, limited to such peripheral roles as submitting emotional victim-impact statements at time of sentencing, the Families are a driving force - some would say the driving force - in the Bernardo case.

Jean Chretien weighs in on the whole affair. In a conversation to the CBC the Prime Minister expresses his dismay that Canadians are allowed to view the O.J. Simpson trial. Speaking of the upcoming Bernardo trial Chretien states, ''I think criminal justice should not be a show for citizens,"

He then gets sidetracked with a curling metaphor:

''Take the case of Sports Illustrated... It's a form of dumping. There's nothing Canadian in that magazine. They don't talk about curling. So for us, we have to have the means to communicate our interests to our own people and when they come and they don't change one page and just buy advertising cheaply in Canada, you're killing the opportunity for people to have news from Canada.''

April 7th, 1995...

...and the Ottawa Citizen's Trevor John is caught in a crying jag:

"I want to weep for the parents who must relive the horrible events that must be replayed for justice to be served. I weep for the young women.I hold my four-year-old and I hug her tightly and try to think of what to say when she looks in shocked wonder and asks: "Why are you crying, Daddy?"I want to say, "Because I love you so much and I'll always be there to protect you." I weep for the fathers of Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy. They probably thought that, too.I weep for the jury of 12 who will be required -- on our behalf -- to witness events that will doubtlessly haunt them for the rest of their lives. And I want to weep for the media lawyers who try to justify having these horrors revisited in open view of the public. I weep for the mothers and fathers who are forced again to fight to protect their children."

Thank you Trevor John, for teaching us how to cry again

April 8, 1995

The Vancouver Sun informs us it is actually the media that is on trial in the quest to see the Bernardo video tapes:

" Money and giving orders are secondary, because you can build up or destroy societies and every person in them. It's the power everyone wants and few are ever in a position to command. Among those few are the media, which unlike religionists and politicians collectively, answer to no one but themselves.Good intentions and high principles aside, that's too much power to unleash on the battered families of two young girls brutalized beyond anyone's comprehension."

The Vancouver Sun: having the discipline, guts and courage to stay true to the better angels of our nature.

April 9th, 1995

The CBC jibes lawyer, Tim Danson for basking in the limelight of American "superstars":

"Photographs dotting the walls of Tim Danson's spacious office map out a life studded with famous names and headline-grabbing cases.There's track and field superstar Carl Lewis chatting with Danson's 18-month-old daughter. There's Danson alonside Michael Dukakis, family friend and former U.S. presidential candidate. "Watch out Justice Busters, I think I just saw council rubbing elbows with Bode Miller and Dennis Kucinich.

"Court officials want it to be business as usual - but when the Paul Bernardo murder trial begins in less than a month, expect overnight lineups, heavy security and a street-full of television trailers.A plan was unveiled yesterday to accommodate dozens of reporters and hundreds of spectators expected to descend on the country's largest courthouse at 361 University Ave., for Bernardo's first-degree murder trial."Burnside still hasn't lost his ear for sensation. Check out his take on Becks move to Tinseltown over at ESPN

April 13th, 1995

Jim Millan, artistic director of Toronto's Crow's Theater believes the time is right to produce a play about serial killers:

"Their victims are vulnerable and available, in high-risk situations, but the killers are hard to pin down. They can't be rehabilitated, they take no pleasure in what they do. They may be part demon and part seekers of understanding. They've usually been exposed to cycles of abuse. They're acting out fantasy, trying to resolve a loss of involvement, but they may well appear quite normal to outsiders."Watch out John Douglas, looks like you've got some competition!

"[Bernardo's lawyer] said he was stopped by the guards when he tried to give his client an extra beef sandwich, which he'd brought from a court- house cafeteria."

April 28, 1995

The Hamilton Spectator tells us to get ready for "THE TRIAL THAT WILL GRIP THE NATION"

Never fear. The Spectator will, "...set the scene for what is to come, with the most comprehensive information you'll find anywhere on what has happened to this point, the legal controversies and court battles, and a who's who of key people in the trial."

By May, we're off. Apparently oblivious to events in Southern California, The Ottawa Citizen is the first to reveal the Bernardo events for what they were:

"HEADLINE: 'THE TRIAL OF THE CENTURY': In media hothouse, Bernardo evidence tests public's right to know against what it wants to know"

Footnote: Other have vied for the "trial of the century" crown"

1. In 1990, Newsweek speculated the surrender of Manuel Noriega could lead to "the trial of the century".

2. Controversy over the paintings of Robert Mapplethorpe in the 1990s lead to "the arts trial of the century" in Cincinnati, Ohio.

3. The "labor trial of the century" was won by union leaders in Canada and their right to spend members dues on "political causes as diverse as nuclear disarmament, abortion rights and the election campaigns of the New Democratic Party" - so ruled the the Supreme Court of Canada on June 28, 1991.

4. The "Russian trial of the century" was begun over the fate of the communist party in July of 1992.

There was the Edmonton trial of the century, Italy's trial of the century, the Prairie trial of the century... on August 24, 1998 Newsweek pondered, What was the Trial of the Century?

In 1999, The Edmonton Journal lamented that the trial of Bill Clinton was ...A FAR CRY FROM THE 'TRIAL OF THE CENTURY'

Then in the new millennium The Toronto Star proclaimed Saddam's trial the new trial of the century.

(you might note it is always Canadians who define legal proceedings in this fashion)

Friday, January 19, 2007

January 19, 1979

On Friday, January 19th, 1979, Robert Buellac travels to Compton and supervises the packing of all of the contents of room 235 Gillard house. The 4 x 4 wooden crate containing all of Theresa Allore's belongings is sealed and shipped by Allied Van Lines to Saint John, New Brunswick. It is one of the last duties performed by Buellac.

At the close of January the case is cold. Mr. Allore has racked up over $5,000 in detective expenses with very little to show for it. He can no longer afford the services of the Metropol Bureau of Investigation. Buellac promises to stay involved in the case on an advisory basis. But the case has lost momentum. Buellac confides to Mr. Allore that he does not foresee a good ending to this whole affair. By the end of January, it is clear to Robert Allore that his daughter will probably not be found alive.

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Know the name, know the face

Marlene Jennings has been appointed justice critic for the Liberal party. Her riding is Notre-Dame-de-GrÃ¢ce--Lachine, which I KNOW will prove useful to some of you out there wanting to apply political pressure to a situations that have atrophied (that means you D. Prior).

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

January 1979

The investigation into Theresa Allore’s disappearance was entering its third month at the beginning of January 1979, and hope was beginning to dwindle that she would ever be found alive. As the focus began to shift from a missing person and possible runaway to that of a potential homicide, the case caught the interest of more powerful forces in law enforcement. Technically, the case was still under the authority of Chief Leo Hamel of Lennoxville, but that could change depending on if, and where the girl was found. Even Hamel knew that a homicide was beyond his capabilities. In the early weeks of January 1979 the Quebec Provincial Force began to take notice of the case.

The Provincial police were known by many names. The Quebec Provincial Force (QPF), Bureau des Enquete Criminal (BEC), sometimes the Surete du Quebec. In the Townships they were known as the Coaticook detachment. In 1979 Roch Gaudreault was coming up as a detective in the Coaticook criminal detachment. Gaudreault had earned his reputation more from his swagger than his accomplishments. He looked like a great detective, he dressed like Kojak, so everyone just assumed that he was a great detective. Slowly, Gaudreault began to insinuate himself into Leo Hamel’s investigation. Gaudreault knew that it was only a matter of time before a body turned up. In January of 1979, Gaudreault - never known for his sensitivity - called up Mr. Allore and bluntly informed him that all there was left to do was to sit around and wait for the snow to melt so that the corpse could be discovered. Insensitive, but accurate. Gaudreault was right. The body would turn up. The question was where? If she were found in Montreal, the case would come under the authority of the Montreal Urban Police, if she were found in Sherbrooke then their force would handle it, but if she were found in the Compton region… While everyone else was turning their attentions to Montreal, Gaudreault stayed to the sidelines and waited patiently for the snow to melt.

Meanwhile, in Montreal the investigation is hitting a dead end. Buellac clocks close to 50 hours making inquires, conducting interviews, and running down leads connected with Theresa Allore’s activities in Montreal prior to attending Champlain College. Buellac does surveillance work. He runs license plate checks on cars belonging to Theresa’s friends. He does criminal record checks on suspicious characters. None of his efforts lead anywhere. Leo Hamel joins the investigation in Montreal. He makes several trips to assist Buellac in his efforts. They check when Theresa last filled her birth control prescription. Perhaps there was a pregnancy? They discover that out west, her boyfriend, Vlad Kulish has suddenly vanished. A friend states that he took a trip down to the States. Perhaps a rendezvous with Theresa, now that the baby’s born? Hamel now reports to the French press that the possibility of a flight to the States is gaining momentum. Some students have come forward and say that Theresa was a manic-depressive. They suggest Theresa was failing in her studies and intended to quit school and leave the country altogether.

Robert Allore was slowing beginning to see that none of this made any sense. In mid January he requests that Theresa’s belongings be returned back home to New Brunswick. Costs were mounting, and Champlain College was continuing to bill him for the room once occupied by his daughter; a room that has remained vacant for the past ten weeks.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Raleigh — Opening statements in the civil suit surrounding the rape and slaying of a Raleigh woman are scheduled to begin Tuesday. Carmon Bennett is suing the owners of Bridgeport Apartments, where his daughter, Stephanie Bennett, lived at the time of her death in May 2002. He maintains in the lawsuit that the complex failed to protect his daughter from her killer, alleging that her apartment window failed to lock, that shrubbery around the building was too high and that there was inadequate lighting. Attorneys for the apartment complex have argued that there was nothing that their client could have done to prevent Bennett's death. Drew Planten, the only suspect in the case, was charged with first-degree murder after a three-year investigation. He committed suicide in prison in January 2006 while awaiting trial. A prowler later identified as Planten had been seen near the apartment prior to Stephanie Bennett's death, and Bennett's attorneys said the apartment complex was aware of that.

Monday, January 15, 2007

10 Questions for Pierre Hugues Boisvenu

In Canadian victimology, Pierre Hugues Boisvenu has the unfortunate distinction of having been touched by deep tragedy twice. In 2002 his daughter, Julie was murdered in Sherbrooke, Quebec. Three years later his only other daughter was killed in a car accident on her way to visit relatives in Abitibi, Quebec.

The loss of two children in three years could crush the best of us, but Pierre Hugues is an exceptional human being. In 2004 he founded AFPAD, a Quebec association that works for the benefit of Quebec families of murdered or missing children. Kind, well-spoken, resilient; Pierre struggles for the rights of Quebec victims and has become one of the most powerful lobbyist in the province working on their behalf.

Also, One of the Pouliots has lived on chemin Cochrane since the 1860s; King's Hall is on the same road (currently the home is occupied by Andre Pouliot).

And speaking of those Pouliots...

It was rumored that the Pouliots once planned a daring prison escape from the headquarters of the Surete du Quebec in Montreal, but I could never find any proof. Well here it is; black, white, read all over:

Christmas 1984: The Pouliots escape from the 11th floor detention centre of this building using 30 bedsheets

MONTREAL (CP) - Two brothers who escaped from an 11th-floor detention centre surrendered quietly to police at a downtown radio station early today as the search continued for three other fugitives from area jails.

Ronald and Mario Pouliot walked into radio station CKAC last night about 18 hours after they and a third man escaped from a provincial jail by sliding down 30 bedsheets tied together.

The brothers - one awaiting sentencing on a murder conviction and the other awaiting trial on murder charges - were met at the station by their lawyers who negotiated their surrender with police. ''We were surprised,'' Quebec provincial police detective Andre Periard said. ''Maybe they understood it was better for them to give themselves up.'' Plainclothes officers surrounded the downtown building where the radio station is located. Provincial police Sgt. John Galianos led a five- man squad to the station and arrested the brothers at about 12:15 a.m.

Ronald Pouliot, 24, and his brother, Mario, 20, were taken back to the Parthenais detention centre in east-end Montreal where they were locked up in fourth-floor police cells rather than the 11th-floor quarters where they were previously held.

Police were still searching for Denis Rouette, 27, of Trois-Rivieres who fled with the Pouliots. He was sentenced last January to 10 years in prison on several charges related to armed robbery and prison escape. He was moved to Montreal on Dec. 11 from the federal maximum- security prison at Millhaven, Ont. to testify in a forthcoming trial.

The escape occurred at Montreal's Parthenais detention centre at 1:30 a.m. yesterday, six hours after the older Pouliot was found guilty of the murder of two of four people found shot to death in an isolated ditch near the Eastern Townships community of Compton Station last June.

During his three-week trial, Ronald Pouliot admitted kidnapping the four victims, aided by several members of his family, in retaliation for vandalism at a nearby cottage owned by the Pouliots.

But he said he did not know the rifle was loaded when he fired the shot which killed Gaston Scalabrini, 24.

After deliberating six days, the jury found him guilty of the first- degree murder of Mr. Scalabrini and the second-degree murder of France Michaud, 21, but acquitted him of the slayings of Jean-Pierre Truchon, 34, and Renaud Paquette, 27.

Mr. Pouliot's sentencing, scheduled for yesterday, was postponed until Friday. The younger Pouliot was awaiting trial on four first- degree murder charges in connection with the same shootings.

Another Pouliot brother, Serge, also ordered to stand trial in the case, is being held at Parthenais.

Meanwhile, police continued to search for 61-year-old American drug trafficker Robert Eidt, freed yesterday as he was being returned to Bordeaux jail after treatment at a nearby clinic for a skin problem.

Two men armed with a machine gun and a revolver jumped from a car and ordered two guards to unlock handcuffs joining Mr. Eidt and one of his escorts as they were walking back to the jail van.

When the guards said they didn't have a key, the rescuers produced a pair of metal clippers and cut the handcuffs off Mr. Eidt, serving a one- year term for drug trafficking.

And last night, a 25-year-old convicted thief, Marc Denis, who was not considered dangerous, fled from the Ste-Anne-des-Plaines penitentiary, north of Montreal.

Ronald Schacter, the lawyer representing Ronald and Mario Pouliot, had offered earlier in the day to negotiate their surrender, warning they ''put themselves in a very dangerous situation'' by escaping.

Police declined to reveal details of the negotiations at the radio station, but said they ''pertained to their (the Pouliots) safety.'' Police earlier questioned a fourth prisoner involved in the Parthenais escape who was caught with one foot out the window as he tried to join theother three.

Prison director Gilles Roussel said an internal investigation was under way to determine how the three prisoners - all detained in separate cells - organized the escape.

The escape went undetected not only by guards but also by Quebec provincial police working at the building. The detention centre is in a 13-floor building which houses the provincial force's regionalheadquarters, one of the busiest police stations in Quebec.

The detention centre holds men awaiting court appearances or convicts awaiting transfer to other prisons after sentencing. It was opened in 1969 and police then hailed it as escape-proof. However, there have been a number of escapes.

MONTREAL (CP) - Two brothers who escaped from an 11th-floor detention centre surrendered quietly to police at a downtown radio station early today as the search continued for three other fugitives from area jails.

Ronald and Mario Pouliot walked into radio station CKAC last night about 18 hours after they and a third man escaped from a provincial jail by sliding down 30 bedsheets tied together.

The brothers - one awaiting sentencing on a murder conviction and the other awaiting trial on murder charges - were met at the station by their lawyers who negotiated their surrender with police. ''We were surprised,'' Quebec provincial police detective Andre Periard said. ''Maybe they understood it was better for them to give themselves up.''

Plainclothes officers surrounded the downtown building where the radio station is located. Provincial police Sgt. John Galianos led a five- man squad to the station and arrested the brothers at about 12:15 a.m.

Ronald Pouliot, 24, and his brother, Mario, 20, were taken back to the Parthenais detention centre in east-end Montreal where they were locked up in fourth-floor police cells rather than the 11th-floor quarters where they were previously held.

Police were still searching for Denis Rouette, 27, of Trois-Rivieres who fled with the Pouliots. He was sentenced last January to 10 years in prison on several charges related to armed robbery and prison escape. He was moved to Montreal on Dec. 11 from the federal maximum- security prison at Millhaven, Ont. to testify in a forthcoming trial.

The escape occurred at Montreal's Parthenais detention centre at 1:30 a.m. yesterday, six hours after the older Pouliot was found guilty of the murder of two of four people found shot to death in an isolated ditch near the Eastern Townships community of Compton Station last June.

During his three-week trial, Ronald Pouliot admitted kidnapping the four victims, aided by several members of his family, in retaliation for vandalism at a nearby cottage owned by the Pouliots.

But he said he did not know the rifle was loaded when he fired the shot which killed Gaston Scalabrini, 24.

After deliberating six days, the jury found him guilty of the first- degree murder of Mr. Scalabrini and the second-degree murder of France Michaud, 21, but acquitted him of the slayings of Jean-Pierre Truchon, 34, and Renaud Paquette, 27.

Mr. Pouliot's sentencing, scheduled for yesterday, was postponed until Friday. The younger Pouliot was awaiting trial on four first- degree murder charges in connection with the same shootings.

Another Pouliot brother, Serge, also ordered to stand trial in the case, is being held at Parthenais.

Meanwhile, police continued to search for 61-year-old American drug trafficker Robert Eidt, freed yesterday as he was being returned to Bordeaux jail after treatment at a nearby clinic for a skin problem.

Two men armed with a machine gun and a revolver jumped from a car and ordered two guards to unlock handcuffs joining Mr. Eidt and one of his escorts as they were walking back to the jail van.

When the guards said they didn't have a key, the rescuers produced a pair of metal clippers and cut the handcuffs off Mr. Eidt, serving a one- year term for drug trafficking.

And last night, a 25-year-old convicted thief, Marc Denis, who was not considered dangerous, fled from the Ste-Anne-des-Plaines penitentiary, north of Montreal.

Ronald Schacter, the lawyer representing Ronald and Mario Pouliot, had offered earlier in the day to negotiate their surrender, warning they ''put themselves in a very dangerous situation'' by escaping.

Police declined to reveal details of the negotiations at the radio station, but said they ''pertained to their (the Pouliots) safety.'' Police earlier questioned a fourth prisoner involved in the Parthenais escape who was caught with one foot out the window as he tried to join theother three.

Prison director Gilles Roussel said an internal investigation was under way to determine how the three prisoners - all detained in separate cells - organized the escape.

The escape went undetected not only by guards but also by Quebec provincial police working at the building. The detention centre is in a 13-floor building which houses the provincial force's regional headquarters, one of the busiest police stations in Quebec.

The detention centre holds men awaiting court appearances or convicts awaiting transfer to other prisons after sentencing. It was opened in 1969 and police then hailed it as escape-proof. However, there have been a number of escapes.

Some decisions don't go down well with the public. You could show that the program led to a cure for Aids. It wouldn't matter. Tax payers paying for prisoners tattoos is bad public policy. They would rather pay more later than pay now for "mom" branded some shitbird's forearm.

Qui a tué Marie-Pier?I was surprised to learn that this case is still unresolved, and the Surete du Quebec appear to have no solid leads. Question: what do you make of her purse being discovered 100 killometres away in Compton? I have my own thoughts, but I'd like to hear others:

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Find Johnia Berry's Killer is a site much like Who Killed Theresa? A family member is murdered, the case goes cold, the police are not much help, the family takes matters into their own hands.

Johnia died in Tennessee in 2004. It's very fresh. It's been 28 years and I still have problems dealing with Theresa: Imagine the Berry's.

But never in my life have I received anything like the following message someone sent to Johnia's mother:

"Get over it she is dead. Maybe her pimp killed her because she did not give him his cut. I am sick and tired of seeing her face all over the place. If they were going to find who did it that would have by now. Maybe you should see if OJ can help look for the killer. Or maybe see if Joran Vandersloot was out partying with her. Hell maybe there is a snuff film with her in it somewhere."Wow. Someone hates themselves a whole lot, and does not understand the trauma they have inflicted. Astonishing.

Monday, January 08, 2007

Rafael Robb: What is the probability that as the "defendant" you are totally screwed?

Guy murders his wife over the Christmas break. She was going to divorce him and collect a lot of alimony. This happens in tony King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. He tries to stage the scene to look like a break-in and robbery. It takes the police under two weeks to figure out the scheme: He's got a weak alibi, there's broken glass improbably breaking over the body (after the crime), and the wife's body looks like her head's been torn off by a shotgun (it's not, it's just his rage).

Economics 682Game TheoryFinal Take home ExamRafael Robb5. Consider the following signaling game. There are two players, a plaintiff and a defendant. The plaintiff knows ahead of time whether he will win the case if it goes to trial, but the defendant does not. Instead the defendant considers the probability of the plaintiff winning to be 1/3. (Formally, nature chooses whetherthe plaintiff wins or losses, and reveals this information to the plaintiffs only. The probability that nature chooses "win" is 1/3 and the defendant knows it is 1/3). All this is common knowledge. If the plaintiff wins his payoff is 3 and the defendant payoff is -4. If the plaintiff losses his payoff is -1 and the defendant's payoff is 0. These payoffs are also common knowledge.

The plaintiff has two possible actions: demand a low settlement amount, m=1, or a high settlement amount m=2. If the defendant accepts a settlement demand of m, the plaintiff's payoff is m and the defendant's payoff is m. If the defendant rejects theplaintiffs demand, the case goes to court.

Sunday, January 07, 2007

What is it about Tigger that brings out the beast in Disney employees?

CNN Highlights:

• New Hampshire man says "Tigger" intentionally hit his son "on or about the head"• Incident allegedly happened while Tigger and boy posed for photo• Employee who played Tigger (Michael J. Fedelem) suspended while Disney World investigates • Another Tigger was accused in 2004 of fondling 13-year-old; found not guilty

Friday, January 05, 2007

Mary Roach is a terrific writer. Her first book Stiff struck just the right tone in offering up little known facts about the death process peppered with humorous anecdotes and insights.

That's why it pains me to admit that her second effort, Spook, is so very, VERY dull.

Spook is a sort of sequel to Stiff. In the book subtitled, Science Tackles The Afterlife, Roach goes after all the crazy ways through the ages that science has grappled with the nature of the human soul. The effort is a whole lot of research with very little in its 295 pages to keep you interested.

I was so determined to make this book work that I put it down for six months when it got boring after the first chapter. Such a fan of Roach ( there is an irresistible twinkle of mischief in her jacket photo that reveals her dark, cynical Canadian soul!), I was convinced that the problem was with me: I would take the book up when I was ready to approach the topic of the afterlife, and appreciate the book's nuance.

Last night I blew off the dust and recommitted myself. Sorry Mary, but there's nothing here. Even you know this topic is boring (for crap sake, you resort to fart jokes on two successive pages!). There is nothing in Spook about Descartes' and Leeuwenhoek's and Le Peyronie's search for the soul that couldn't be found in the briefest of Wikipedia scans. Also, too much emphasis on Western science (I know what the Europeans thought, can we have some insight on what the ancient Persians or Asian culture thought about the soul?).

Spook does light up when Roach spends a chapter on Gary Schwartz, and his work with mediums at the University of Arizona, but by then we are halfway in and too, too late. If you want a great account of Schwartz' work read his book, The Afterlife Experiments: Believer or skeptic; Schwartz will give you a comprehensive look at his medium research where Roach leaves you frustrated and guessing for more answers.

---------------------------------------------

I am all about second chances today. If Spook was an equal disappointment the second time around, the television show Mediumwas well worth another look.

Let me start by saying Medium has all the components I hate in a television show:

1. It's an hour long drama: nothing bores me more.2. It's a cop show with a psychic angle: uggh! The only thing worse are CSI shows.3. It has a side plot of the medium's homelife with three young girls: why would I want to watch MY life on television? I only turn the damn thing on to get away from that train-wreck.4. It stars one of the Arquettes, Patricia: never a big fan.

But Mediumis really good, very watchable. It's based on the experiences of real-life medium Allison Dubois, a would be criminal prosecutor who got sidetracked with the supernatural.

FYI: Dubois is featured - as are other 'superstar' psychics, Laurie Campbell and John Edward - in both Gary Schwartz' The Afterlife Experiments and the Mary Roach book (and I once had a reading by Laurie Campbell - but that's a WHOLE other story we won't get into now).

Sandoval and Arquette - "I see discarnate people"

Why Medium is good:

1. First and foremost, the writing. The stories are good. What's more, our heroes don't live some faux-glam life a la CSI Miami (did you ever see forensic lab techs wearing Prada?). The Dubois' struggle to pay the bills in a shitty looking apartment, and have their hands full with three young daughters, one of whom is also psychic. In fact it is this domestic side of Medium that is the most compelling aspect of the show.

2. Patricia Arquette is good. What's more, she looks like she's eaten a few square meals, not like the typical bone-racks we see on the tube these days.

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

2 down, 68 to go

Man charged in Alberta prostitute murder

TENILLE BONOGUOREGlobe and Mail Update

The man who discovered the body of Albertan prostitute Rachel Quinney has been charged with her murder.Thomas Svekla is due to appear in Edmonton Provincial Court on Thursday, January 4, charged with second degree murder and one count of offering an indignity to a human body in relation to the death of 19-year-old Ms. Quinney.

Mr. Svekla reported the discovery of her body in a wooded area near Sherwood Park, Alberta, on June 11, 2004.

Mr. Svekla is already in police custody. He was charged on May 9, 2006, with the second degree murder of prostitute Theresa Merrie Innes, whose body was discovered at a Fort Saskatchewan residence on May 7, 2006. Mr. Svekla was also charged with committing an indignity to Ms. Innes's body.

Investigators from the RCMP's Project KARE have met with Ms. Quinney's family to advise them of the latest charges.

In a statement released to announce the charges, the RCMP warned it was far from solving what appears to be a series of linked murders.

"Project KARE continues to assert that one or more persons are responsible for one or more deaths of Edmonton and area sex trade workers. Accordingly our work is far from being considered over," the statement reads.

"These most recent charges strengthen our determination and commitment to do all we legally can to solve all of these crimes and to bring everyone responsible before the courts."

The task force has spent more than two years investigating the deaths of dozens Alberta women, many of them involved in the sex trade.

While police acknowledged last year that a serial killer was likely responsible for many of the killings in and around Edmonton, they have refused to say whether Mr. Svekla is their man.

The area where Ms. Innes was found has become a dumping ground for the bodies of prostitutes. Since 1988, the bodies of eight women have been found east of Edmonton.

Project KARE is an RCMP-led unsolved homicide and missing person's task force. Together with the Edmonton Police Service, over 70 cases dating back several decades have been analyzed.

Since 1988, there have been at least 14 unsolved murders of women -- most of them prostitutes -- in the Greater Edmonton Area.

Most of the slain women have been discovered in rural fields and ditches east of Edmonton, and at least two were burned.

Yes, just five hours into the new year. It happened in Dorchester, one of five shootings occurring in the early morning hours. Boston had 74 murders in 2006, one shy of the 2005 tally; the most recorded in the city in over ten years.